Rebekah Chamberlain, manager of Charles F. NeJame Pool, near the train tracks on Main Street in Danbury, says she notices that smaller cars hesitate as they cross the tracks but SUVs seem to have no trouble.

Rebekah Chamberlain, manager of Charles F. NeJame Pool, near the train tracks on Main Street in Danbury, says she notices that smaller cars hesitate as they cross the tracks but SUVs seem to have no trouble.

DANBURY -- Driving over Danbury railroad crossings can be a teeth-rattling experience that slows traffic and could damage your vehicle.

But who is responsible for fixing those crossings, and who has to pay for the work, isn't nearly as clear.

"I can't say that I've ever seen anyone get a flat at the crossing, but you just know it's going to happen," said Rebekah Chamberlain, an employee of Charles NeJame Pools on Main Street, near the Housatonic Railroad crossing. "I've already seen someone lose a muffler."

Gill Smart, supervisor of the state Department of Transportation's rail regulatory unit, said the crossings are on property owned by the railroad, and it is the railroad's responsibly to pay for any repairs.

Railroad officials, however, see the situation a little differently.

Edward Rodriguez, executive vice president of the Housatonic Railroad, said while the company often pays for minor repairs to crossings, either the state or local government owns the road and is responsible for it.

The railroad company uses the tracks about once a week, according to officials, to move freight through the area.

City Engineer Farid Khouri said it is the railroad's responsibility to maintain the tracks, but the city's

responsibility to upgrade the crossings.

Whoever is actually responsible, no one seems to have the money to pay for repairs.

"There is definitely a lot of controversy around it," said state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, a ranking member of the Legislature's Transportation Committee. "There is a tremendous amount of disagreement about who is responsible for the crossings, and when money gets tight, it only exacerbates the issue."

Smart said he isn't surprised that railroad companies don't want to pay to upgrade crossings because trucks, not to mention plows and the ice melt used during winter, that do most of the damage.

Khouri said a dozen at-grade crossings are in the city, most of which have been repaired in the last decade using state funds, but that money has long since dried up.

The city paid for the last crossing to be upgraded, a Housatonic track running across White Street, in 2008 at a cost of nearly $280,000. Khouri said the work was done as part of the White Street improvement project.

Crossings on Main Street and Wildman Street need repairs, he said, adding, there are no plans upgrade either.

Boucher said there was an effort in the Legislature last year to free up some state money for crossings, but the bill never passed. Hopefully, she said, it can be addressed next year, but money is going to be tight.

"It's all a matter of priorities," she said, "and these crossings have been ignored for some time."